Berry Street supports increasing the foster and kinship carer allowance in Victoria

Each night across Victoria over 10,000 children and young people cannot live safely at home. These children and young people rely on foster carers and kinship carers to provide a safe and nurturing home. But the rising cost of living is impacting many families – and that includes our amazing community of Berry Street foster carers and kinship carers.

Children and young people in out-of-home care deserve the same opportunities and experiences that every other child does. Foster and kinship carers are provided with a tax-free allowance paid by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. However, with the increasing prices of essentials like food, utilities, petrol and medical services, for many foster and kinship carers the fortnightly contribution is not stretching far enough.

Berry Street supports increasing the carer allowance in Victoria

We proudly support the Foster Care Association of Victoria and Kinship Carers Victoria in bringing awareness and much-needed advocacy to raise the rate of the carer allowance in Victoria.

Currently, Victoria has the country's lowest care allowance rate, and we’re running the risk of leaving foster, kinship and permanent carers out of pocket. In fact, many kinship carers are already being shortchanged with 96 per cent of kinship carers receiving the lowest reimbursement rate compared to 32 per cent of foster carers.

How much do foster carers get paid in Victoria? Unfortunately, not enough! Foster care payments in Victoria fall short and fail to correspond to the vital role they play in our community. Enough is enough – it's time for this to change.

We need to raise the foster care and kinship care allowances to properly acknowledge the commitment and dedication our foster and kinship carers show in nurturing children and young people.

What other support do Berry Street foster and kinship carers receive?

In addition to financial support, Berry Street foster and kinship carers are recognised for the vital role they play in our communities across Victoria. We find personalised and creative ways to show our appreciation, from private screenings at the cinema and hosting morning teas as well as social and educational opportunities to connect with other carers.

However, we also know more can be done to support our amazing community of carers and that is another reason why Berry Street joins our voice to supporting Foster Care Association of Victoria and Kinship Carers Victoria to call upon the Victorian Government to increase the carer allowance.

How can you help?

It’s time to increase the carer allowance to better support Victorian foster and kinship carers.

Join us in supporting Foster Care Association of Victoria and Kinship Carers Victoria and sign their petition to increase the carer allowance.